Gary Johnson on Energy & Oil Libertarian presidential nominee; former Republican NM Governor

Man contributes to climate change, but no government fix

When it comes to global climate change, Johnson believes too many politicians are having the wrong debate. Is the climate changing? Probably so. Is man contributing to that change? Probably so. The important question, however, is whether the government's efforts to regulate, tax and manipulate the marketplace in order to impact that change are cost-effective--or effective at all. Given the realities of global energy and resource use, there is little evidence that the burden being placed on Americans is making a difference that justifies the cost.

Federal regulation makes fracking, coal mining, & nuclear OK

Johnson has gone on the record as supporting nuclear power. He acknowledges that new nuclear facilities are not likely to be built under a true free market model as private underwriters will not cover nuclear plants' liabilities, but--contrary to libertarian principles--would consider letting the federal government cover the role as underwriter.

Support renewables, but not with federal policy

Johnson is supportive of energy efficiency so long as it is privately paid for, saying "the beauty of energy efficiency is that it needs no directive from a government central planner, because energy efficiency is cost efficiency, and Americans already have an incentive to cut costs."

Cap-&-trade imposes costs with no environmental improvement

Effective long-term environmental stewardship and conservation are impossible without a healthy economy and the freedom to make responsible decisions.

Alternative energy good; ethanol subsidies bad

Supports nuclear power

A: Yes.

Current policy prevents common-sense energy development

A: Change regulatory & enforcement policies that are preventing common-sense energy development. Millions of jobs would be created. Many other regulatory approaches can be changed as well to create certainty for the private sector. As Governor of NM I had the best jobs record of anyone candidate, but didn't claim to creating one job. Government does not create jobs.

No cap-and-trade; no taxing carbon emissions

He also signed a law deregulating New Mexico's electricity market that allowed residential, small-business customers and schools to start shopping for their electricity supplier.

I accept global warming but not cap-and-trade

A: I accept the fact that there is global warming and I accept the fact that it's man caused. That said, I am opposed to cap and trade. I'm a free market guy when it comes to the clean environment the number-one factor when it comes to the clean environment is a good economy.

Q: You don't think there's a policy response? It's making people richer that would help?

A: Good economies results in cleaner environment. That's been the history of the planet till this point.

Voluntary partnerships reduce greenhouse gases economically.

Considering the evidence and the risks of both overreaction and underreaction, the Governors recommend that the federal government continue its climate research, including regional climate research, to improve scientific understanding of global climate change. The Governors also recommend taking steps that are cost-effective and offer other social and economic benefits beyond reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, the Governors support voluntary partnerships to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while achieving other economic and environmental goals.
• The Governors are committed to working in partnership with the federal government, businesses, environmental groups, and others to develop and implement voluntary programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in conjunction with conserving energy, protecting the environment, and strengthening the economy.
• The Governors urge that those who have successfully achieved reductions of greenhouse emissions receive appropriate credit for their early actions. The Governors strongly encourage these kinds of voluntary efforts.
• The Governors believe that federally required implementation of any treaty provisions, including those that mandate limits or reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, must not occur before the U.S. Senate ratifies an international agreement and Congress passes enabling legislation.
• The Governors support continued federal funding for research and development technology in this area. They also believe it is essential to engage the private sector by fostering technology partnerships between industry and government. Public-private partnerships serve to achieve desired environmental goals, speed the introduction of new technologies to the marketplace, and meet consumer needs and product affordability goals, while avoiding market distortions and job losses.

Kyoto Treaty must include reductions by all countries.

The Governors recommend that the federal government continue to seek the advice of state and local officials and nongovernmental organizations with expertise in economic, trade, jobs, public health, and environmental issues and assess the potential economic and environmental consequences of proposed policies and measures, including a thorough and broadly accepted analysis of costs and benefits. The Governors recommend that the US:
• not sign or ratify any agreement that mandates new commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the US, unless such an agreement mandates new specific scheduled commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for developing countries within the same compliance period;
• aggressively undertake strategies for including emissions-reduction commitments from developing countries;
• not sign or ratify any agreement that would result in serious harm to the US economy;
• support flexible policies and measures in continuing negotiations that provide an opportunity for the US to meet global environmental goals without jeopardizing US jobs, trade, or economic competitiveness;
• insist on flexible implementation timetables in continuing negotiations that permit affected parties adequate time to plan strategies for meeting commitments; and
• ensure that no single sector, state, or nation is disproportionately disadvantaged by the implementation of international policies.

Federal tax incentives for energy, with state decisions.

1. Western Governors find that states must continue to play a pivotal role in electric power decisions. Specifically:
   • The existing authority of states over retail electric power sales and transmissions must be retained.
   • Congress should allow states to create regional mechanisms to decide regional power issues.

1. We need to pursue a national energy policy that will result in a diverse energy portfolio:
   • New energy development: Enable exploration and development of promising domestic oil, gas, coal, geothermal or wind resources.
   • Coal: Implement R&D and tax incentives to promote the development and deployment of new technologies.
   • Renewables: Accelerate the development and deployment of promising renewable energy technologies through the extension and expansion of state and federal production tax credits.
   • Environmental Regulation: Review environmental and natural resource policies to ensure they are as efficient as possible.
   • Permitting Energy Facilities: Streamline state, tribal and federal processes for siting new generation, electric transmission and natural gas pipelines.
   • Energy Infrastructure: Support economic and environmentally sound energy infrastructure investments to transport energy to markets

1. Energy efficiency and conservation: At a minimum:
   • Encourage rate structures that give utilities and customers an incentive to reduce consumption.
   • Encourage long-term stability of government and utility conservation programs.
   • Review and improve the energy efficiency of building codes and appliance efficiency standards that recognize the unique conditions in the West (e.g., dry climates).
   • Support federal, state and tribal tax incentives to accelerate the introduction of new energy efficient technologies.